NatureBack
The NatureBack Method of Pregnancy and Birth
NatureBack is the expression of Dr. Yaakov Abdelhak’s obstetrical philosophy after more than 3 decades in the field of high-risk perinatology Maternal-Fetal Medicine. It is a goal-oriented practical method that can mitigate or possibly even eliminate the need for a cesarean delivery.
NatureBack starts at the beginning of pregnancy, with recognition of the factors that can lead to cesarean delivery. The risk of cesarean delivery doesn’t arise when a woman goes into labor; it’s set long before any medical intervention. In many pregnancies, a cesarean delivery is initiated during the first trimester, and there are steps that can be taken in each trimester and during birth to reduce the need for surgical intervention.
The NatureBack Book is now available
The NatureBack Method to Avoid a Cesarean Section
An Insiders Guide to Vaginal Delivery
Yaakov Abdelhak, MD, FACOG, MFM
Kristin Mallon, CNM, MS, RNC-OB
Our Podcast on NatureBack can be downloaded or streamed here.
Most are familiar with the cesarean epidemic where cesareans account for more than 30 percent of all deliveries in the United States. This is a dramatic increase from the mere five percent of babies delivered by cesarean delivery in 1970. Fingers often point at the bias of overworked obstetricians who want to hurry things along, labor induction, and other seemingly counterproductive medical interventions. There is also the widespread use of the external fetal monitor, which is blamed for fueling the anxiety of litigation-weary obstetricians. Some of these usual suspects have earned their dubious reputation, while others are completely innocent—as the NatureBack philosophy details.
NatureBack proports the honest truth about the largest contributing factor to the cesarean wave which is that many babies are just too big. They’re so big, in fact, that many can’t fit through the pelvis.
A very popular, powerful cultural belief is that Mother Nature–the time-tested, proven, physiological, and finely-tuned process–will not let us down. Women have been birthing vaginally for millennia. Is there any reason to believe that a woman would—or even could!—grow a baby so large that it’s physically impossible for the baby to safely pass through her birth canal? That Mother Nature would provide each mom with a baby that fits her body seems like common sense.
The thing is, we no longer live in Mother Nature’s world. Instead, we live in a world very different from the one we adapted to throughout the millennia of human evolution.
The process of vaginal birth has remained the same; it’s our lifestyles that have changed. We have deviated from nature—and mightily so. Our diets, our activity levels, and our expectations have all evolved (some might say devolved). For most of us, modern society means a sedentary lifestyle. It is synonymous with processed food, with the result that we are now consuming carbohydrates on a scale unprecedented in human history.
As a result, babies are growing bigger in gestation than ever before. With the abundance of calories at our disposal, growing babies are turning out to be easier than delivering them.
At Maternal Resources, the team is ready to safely guide you and your family through a healthy pregnancy utilizing the NatureBack method to achieve all your pregnancy goals including Natural Vaginal Delivery, if you so choose.